Alain Ducasse Kitchen Confidential

Multi-Michelin starred Alain Ducasse has a restaurant at The Dorchester, and a revolutionary chocolate boutique in Paris. He savours autumn flavours

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November is a beautiful time for cooks. You still have lingering flavours from the end of summer, but you have autumnal ones too – certain vegetables and flavours that herald a different time of year, like hazelnuts. It’s the most interesting season for me.

Of course, this is a month for game. I use everything that I can – duck, pheasant, partridge, hare. Like with all my cooking, I try to preserve the philosophy of keeping the original taste. With duck, I roast it simply, in a sweet and sour sauce with fresh and dried citrus (perhaps bitter orange and lime), ginger, chilli, vinegar, butter and Indonesian pepper. I’ll serve it with vegetables of the season – turnips, shallots, pear, even apples – in a fondant style, braised with the duck juices.

Pheasant I like when it is not too cooked – it should be pink. Like duck it’s also nice when roasted, with some slow-cooked chicory in butter, and some fondant endive. Venison calls for a rich, dark wine sauce, with a peppery hit and a nice balance with a little bit of vinegar. It should never be over-cooked – medium rare is the best way.

Shellfish starts to come into its own in November, and I’ll be using scallops from Scotland. You need the very freshest, biggest ones you can find. They should be barely cooked, and barely seasoned. I serve mine with ceps sliced very, very thinly, beurre noisette, and, to garnish, a few shavings of white truffle. This is the best month for the real white truffles from Piedmont – don’t bother with the early season ones that come out around September. You need to wait until they are really ripe. Speaking of ceps, this is also the time for them.

They grow in chestnut tree forests, and I like to prepare them in a dish that reflects their natural environment. I line the bottom of a casserole dish with chestnut leaves. I put in brushed (not washed, but with clean bases), whole ceps, and sprinkle with salt, very thinly sliced grey shallot and olive oil. I cover them with another layer of chestnut leaves and bake for half an hour – the aroma is amazing.

Who i'm using

In Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester we use meats from Rhug Estate (rhug.co.uk) and seafood from one of the best suppliers in Europe, Keltic Seafare (kelticseafare.com).

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